Manual Chapter :
Deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition in VMware ESXi
Applies To:
Show VersionsBIG-IQ Centralized Management
- 8.3.0, 8.2.0, 8.1.0, 8.0.0
Deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition in VMware ESXi
VMware ESXi
How do I deploy a BIG-IQ VE in VMware ESXi ?
VMware ESXi
?The tasks
you perform to deploy the BIG-IQ Virtual Edition (VE) system on
VMware ESXi
, depend on what you plan to do with the VMware ESXi
:If you plan to manage BIG-IP devices with the
BIG-IQ system |
If you plan to manage applications in a service
scaling group housed in a VMware cloud |
---|---|
|
|
When you deploy a VE for managing
applications in an SSG, some parameter settings you specify are different. These
settings are noted where appropriate.
Host machine requirements and recommendations
To successfully deploy and run the
BIG-IQ
VE system, the host system must satisfy minimum
requirements.The host system must include these elements:
- VMware ESX or ESXi. TheBIG-IQ Virtual Edition and Supported Hypervisors Matrix, published on the AskF5 web site,support.f5.comidentifies the versions that are supported.
- VMware vSphere client
- Connection to a common NTP source (this is especially important for each host in a redundant system configuration).
The hypervisor CPU must meet the following requirements:
- Use a 64-bit architecture.
- Have support for virtualization (AMD-V or Intel VT-x) enabled.
- Support a one-to-one thread-to-defined virtual CPU ratio, or (on single-threading architectures) support at least one core per defined virtual CPU.
- Intel processors must be from the Core (or newer) workstation or server family of CPUs.
Deploy a VMware ESXi BIG-IQ VE virtual machine
The first step in deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition (VE) is to
download the OVA file to your local system. Next, you can run the Deploy OVF Template
wizard from within the ESXi vSphere client or vCenter vSphere Web client. Follow the
steps in this procedure to create an instance of the BIG-IQ system that runs as a
virtual machine on the host system.
Do not modify the configuration of the BIG-IQ
VE guest environment with settings less powerful than the ones recommended in this
document. This includes the settings for the CPU, RAM, and network adapters. Doing so
might produce unexpected results.
- From a browser window, open the F5 Downloads page (downloads.f5.com) and log in.
- On the Downloads Overview page, clickFind a Download.
- Under Product Line, selectCentralized Management.
- Under Name, select the release you want to install.
- If the End User Software License is displayed, read it and then clickI Accept.
- Select the BIG-IQ Virtual Edition file package to download.
- If you are installing a BIG-IQ, download the file name that ends inide.ovaor-scsi.ova. The BIG-IQ file package creates a 120Gb disk footprint at installation.
- If you are installing a data collection device, download the file name that ends inLARGE-ide.ovaorLARGE-scsi.ova. The data collection device file package creates a 500Gb disk footprint at installation.
- Start your vSphere Client and log in.If the ESXi host is being managed by vCenter Server, you should complete the deployment from the vCenter vSphere Web Client instead.
- From the vSphere Client File menu, select Deploy OVF Template.The Deploy OVF Template wizard starts.
- In the Source pane, clickDeploy from file or URL, and, using theBrowsebutton, locate the OVF file, open it, and then clickNext.For example:\MyDocuments\Work\Virtualization\<BIG-IQ_OVF_filename>The OVF Template Details pane opens.
- Verify that the OVF template details are correct, and clickNext.This displays the End-User License Agreement (EULA).
- Read and accept the license agreement, and clickNext.The Name and Location pane opens.
- In theNamefield, type a name for the F5 VE virtual machine, such as:smith_f5_ve.
- In the Inventory Location area, select a folder name and clickNext.
- From theConfigurationlist, select the number of CPUs and disks required for your system, and then clickNext.The Configuration pane appears only when you use the SCSI version of the OVA packages: it is absent when you deploy with one of the IDE packages. The IDE packages will deploy their VE with 2 CPUs and 4 GB RAM. For production use, F5 Networks recommends 4 CPUs and 16 GB RAM. (For higher performance and scale, F5 Networks recommends 8 CPUs and either 32 GB or 64 GB RAM). You can adjust the CPU and memory settings after you complete the initial deployment and power off the virtual machine.
- If the host system is controlled by VMware vCenter Server, the Host Cluster screen opens. Choose the preferred host and clickNext. Otherwise, proceed to the next step.
- In theDatastorefield, type the name of data source your system will use, in theAvailable spacefield, type in the amount of space your system needs (in Gigabytes), and then clickNext.The Network Mapping dialog box opens.
- Map the Source Networks to the Destination Networks in your inventory:
- Map the source networkManagementto the name of the appropriate management network in your inventory.The network used for this interface is usually the same subnet as the vCenter Server, ESXi Host and NSX Manager.
- If you choose to manage the BIG-IP devices using an interface other than management, you can map the source networkInternalto that non-management network.An example of a destination internal network isPrivate Access.
- Leave the source networkExternalat its default setting. This network is not used in most configurations.An example of a destination external network isPublic Access.
- When you have the destination networks correctly mapped, clickNext.The Ready to Complete screen opens.
- Verify that all deployment settings are correct, and clickFinish.
Power on the BIG-IQ VE virtual machine for the first time
You power on the virtual machine so that you
can make the BIG-IQ Virtual Edition (VE) accessible from the console.
- In the main vSphere client window, click the Administration menu.
- Select the virtual machine that you want to power on.
- Click the Summary tab, and in the Commands area, clickPower On.The status icon changes to indicate that the virtual machine is on. Note that the system will not process traffic until you configure the virtual machine from its command line or through its web interface.
After the system completes the initialization process, two
built-in user accounts are enabled that provide you with the access you need to
complete initial configuration and setup:
- The root account provides initial user access to command shells. You can use a local console connection, or you can use SSH. This account also provides access to the F5 Configuration utility. The initial root account password isdefault.
- The admin account provides initial user access through the web interface. The initial admin account password isadmin.
You should change passwords for both
accounts before bringing a system into production.
Set up the management network on the BIG-IQ virtual machine
If your network
has DHCP, an IP address is automatically assigned to BIG-IQ VE during deployment.
You can
use this address to access the BIG-IQ VE user interface or
tmsh
command-line utility. If no IP address was assigned, you can assign one by using the
Configuration utility.
Do not use VMware
tools to configure the IP address: the BIG-IQ system will not use these changes.
- In the vSphere client, clickLaunch Virtual Machine Console.The console screen opens. After a few seconds, a login prompt appears.
- At the <username> login prompt, typeroot.
- At the password prompt, typedefault.
- Typeconfigand press Enter.The F5 Management Port Setup screen opens.
- ClickOK.
- Determine how to assign the management port:
- If you want DHCP to automatically assign an address for the management port, selectYes.
- To manually assign an IP address and netmask for the management port, selectNoand follow the instructions to set the IPv4 address, network mask, and management route (gateway address).
DHCP is disabled by default to avoid assigning both IPv4 and IPv6 management addresses. F5 does not support settingmgmt-dhcpto enabled from the command line.
When assigned, the management IP address appears in
the Summary tab of the vSphere client. Alternatively, you can use a hypervisor generic
statement, such as
tmsh list sys
management-ip
. You can now log in to the BIG-IQ VE user
interface, and license and provision the VE.